Purchase and resale of cargo space by a freight forwarder on its...

Purchase and resale of cargo space by a freight forwarder on its own account was held to be a principal-to-principal trading transaction, not an intermediary or composite taxable service. The Tribunal found that mere markup between buying and selling prices did not prove rendition of Business Support Service or any other service, and the alleged local transportation, cargo handling, labour and facilitation services were unsupported by evidence. It also noted that the appellant bore the risk of unsold space and acted as principal, consistent with the departmental clarification that such activity is not intermediary service. The surplus from resale was treated as business income from trading in space, so the service tax, interest and penalties were set aside.

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